Right Forward Pocket - David Kantilla (St Marys & South Adelaide)
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Right Forward Pocket - David Kantilla (St Marys & South Adelaide) |
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Tiwi Islander Kantilla became the first full blood aboriginal to appear in the SANFL when he joined South Adelaide in 1961. Kantilla, whose tribal name was Amparralamtua, went to South on the recommendation of a former rover with the club, Len Atkins. Despite never having played on a fully turfed oval before, the beanpole-like Kantilla adapted to the hurly burly of big time football straight away, cementing his place in the team by booting 6 goals against Glenelg on his debut at Kensington Oval. Over the next six seasons he played a total of 113 games for the Panthers, initially as a forward, but later, and to more telling effect, as an energetic, highly-skilled ruckman. Possibly his finest moment came in 1964 when he was arguably best afield in South's 9.15 (69) to 5.12 (42) grand final victory over Port. Kantilla also represented South Australia in the interstate arena in 1964 and 1965, and was a dual winner of the Knuckey Cup for South Adelaide's best and fairest player. His career tally of 106 league goals included a club list topping 31 in his debut season. On his return to the Northern Territory he coached his old club St Marys for a season. Kantilla was tragically killed in a road accident on Bathurst Island in 1978. |
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The
son of former Sturt and South Australia
ruckman Dean Ottens, Brad shares his father's formidable physique (201cm,
100kg) and aerial prowess, allied to an unlikely agility for someone of
such hefty stature.
Born in Darwin, where his father spent some time playing for Waratahs, Brad Ottens made his senior debut in 1997 with Glenelg. After 15 games that year for the South Australian Tigers he moved across the border in 1998 and joined their Victorian counterparts, Richmond. Ottens spent seven seasons at Punt Road, and, after serving an initial apprenticeship to hardy veteran Brendon Gale, he proved himself one of the best ruckmen and part time key position forwards in the game. Using his weight and strength to good effect, he is hard to dislodge, whether in ruck contests or when endeavouring to mark. When both he and fellow 'man mountain' Matthew Richardson were both fit and firing, Richmond possessed arguably the most formidable forward line marking resources in the AFL. In 2005, however, the partnership was broken up as Ottens crossed to Geelong in a highly publicised trade deal. |
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Left Forward Pocket - Ronnie Burns (St Marys, West Perth, Geelong, Adelaide) |
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Following
Gary
Ablett's retirement at the end of the 1996 season, Territorian Ronnie
Burns was ready and waiting in the wings to assume the mantle of 'Geelong
Excitement Machine'. Having ventured such an opinion, however, it
must at once be admitted that the styles of the two players, whilst having
some similarities, are ultimately very different. Moreover, Ronnie
Burns, who finished his AFL career with two largely disappointing seasons
at Adelaide in 2003-4, only intermittently
managed to match the exploits and never the consistency of
the man referred to by the Kardinia Park faithful simply as 'God'.
Perhaps it is unfair to make such comparisons any way, for if a certain Mr. Ablett is left entirely out of the equation then Ronnie Burns emerges, in his own right, as a highly talented, if frustratingly spasmodic, performer. Possessed of lightning pace, sharp reflexes, and a Peter Daicos-like ability to find the goals from the most seemingly impossible of angles and situations, a spectacular video could readily be compiled of the highlights of his career so far. Sadly, the considerable number of comparatively inconsequential games he played would prevent him from being regarded as an out and out champion, but for sheer skill and the potential to create havoc and excitement he had few recent equals in the modern game. |
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